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PRACTICAL MANUAL 



CONTAINING HIGHLY IMPOI^TANT INFORMATION TO 

DAIRYMEN, FARMERS, AND ALL OTHERS 

WHO WISH TO KNOW 



HOW TO MAKE GOOD CHEESE ;^^ 

1873 ^: 



BY C. A. CODOINQ. 



1: 



REVIEW AND HERALD STEAM PRESS PRINT, 
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. 



1864. 



A 






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Patitu^I m pafeittg (&kuH* 



At the earnest solicitation of many cheese-mak- 
ers, arid many who would like to make cheese, and 
knowing that a work of this kind was much need- 
ed, I have, in the last three years, spared no pains 
nor expense in collecting together all the best re- 
ports and ideas I could find on this subject. These, 
with my own experience, I now give in as con- 
densed a form as I can, and at the same time al- 
lude to the variety of circumstances that have a 
bearing upon the intricate science of making cheese. 

GENERAL IDEAS ON MAKING CHEESE. 

In the first place, milk is a very sensitive fluid, 
and liable to be varied in quality by impure water, 
filthy and ill-ventilated stables, change of feed, 
and excess of feeding, excitement of temper, ir- 
regular milking, salting, &c., all of which destroy 
its susceptibility to produce like effects. Cheese, 
when pressed and exposed in a curing process, is 
no less sensitive, and equally liable to be varied in 
texture and flavor by exposure to excess of heat, 
bad air, &c., the effects of which I shall hereafter 
notice. 

Those leading principles which form the basis 
of operations should be closely adhered to in all 



2 A .MAMA I, (!>, 

cases in the process of manufacturing cheese. 
Rennet, heat, salt, and pressure, are the principal 
agents used in convertinsr milk into cheese, the 
flavor and texture of which is determined by their 
proportionate use. The proportion is varied by 
different dairymen according to their notions of 
propriety, and as best adapted to their fixtures 
and experiences. Hence arises the great inequal- 
ity in cheese-makers in the same neighborhood. 
Some of their cheese is matured at an earlier peri- 
od, while others mature later, and are not as early 
ready for market. Some of their cheese is good, 
and some is bad. It is therefore very necessary 
that those who make cheese should have a good 
and sufficient guide to the science ; yet it is by 
practical experience and close observation that the 
cheese-maker can learn to adapt his knowledge 
and practice perfectly to the frequent and extreme 
changes to which our climate is subject — varying 
the quality of milk, and materially affecting cheese 
in process of curing. 

The evening's and morning's milk is commonly 
used to make one cheese. The evening's milk is 
strained into a tub and cooled, to prevent it from 
souring. This is done by setting pails, filled with 
cold water, into the tub, and stirring che milk till 
cool ; but little cream will rise over night. The 
cream is taken from the evening's milk, and kept 
till the evening's and morning's milk are put to- 
gether, and warmed, to receive the rennet. This 
is often done by heating a part of the evening's 
milk to a temperature that will warm the whole 
mass. That method of heating is objectionable, 
because the natural affinity which it is necessary 
to preserve between the constituent parts is de- 
stroyed. A perfect coherence is destroyed by a 



MAKING CHEESK. 3 

portion of the milk's being over-heated. It is bet- 
ter to warm the whole mass in a manner that will 
produce an equilibrium of heat, which is best done 
by placing the vessel containing the milk within a 
larger vessel, with three inches of space under the 
bottom, and two inches of space at the sides, into 
which space water may be put to cool the milk, 
and into which steam may be let to warm the milk 
and scald the curd. The more water there is sur- 
rounding the milk, the more uniform will be the 
heat. The cream, if added (which is generally 
done), is best incorporated with the milk by put- 
ting it with three times its quantity of new, warm 
milk from the cow, and adding warm water to raise 
its temperature to ninety-eight degrees. Stir it 
till perfectly limpid, add the cream to the milk, 
and then put in the rennet, that the same stirring 
may mix both at once with the mass. 

If milk is curdled below eighty-four degrees, 
the cream is more liable to work off with the whey. 
An extreme of heat will have a like effect. Curd- 
ling heat is varied with the temperature of the air, 
or the liability of the milk to cool after adding 
the rennet. A fine cloth spread over the tub while 
the milk is curdling, will prevent the surface from 
being cooled by the circulation of air. No jarring 
of the milk by walking on the floor, or otherwise, 
should be allowed while milk is curdling, as it pre- 
vents a perfect coherence. 

When milk is curdled so as to appear like a sol- 
id, it is divided into small particles to aid the sep- 
aration of the whey from the curd. This is often 
too speedily done to facilitate the work, and at 
a sacrifice of quality and quantity. 

The four indispensable agents, rennet, heat, 
salt, and pressure, rightly applied, must keep pace 



A MANUAL OX 



!ri 



with each other in effect. The two former oper- 
ating to sub-divide, the latter to aid cohesion by 
bringing the parts of a sameness in closer contact. 
This should be skillfully and studiously applied, 
in a mild way, according to the capacity of the 
curd to receive it. The less friction there is in 
vvorking the curd, the less will be the waste. If 
heat is raised too fast, or commenced while the 
curd is too young, the eJBFect of the rennet will be 
checked, and decomposition will not be complete, 
and will result in a "leaky" cheese. 

Heat may be raised in scalding to keep pace 
with the rennet. If the rennet is quick, heat may 
be raised quick ; if slow, heat must be raised slow, 
and held longer. Scalding heat may be carried 
from ninety-two to one hundred degrees, accord- 
ing to the size of iJae cheese, and the temperature 
to which the cheese iis exposed. Daring the pro- 
cess of scalding, the -whey and curd should be kept 
in motion to prevent the curd from settling and 
sticking together, as separating it, is attended with 
great labor and waste from friction. When the 
curd is cooked, so that it feels elastic and will 
squeak when chewed with the front teeth, it is 
ready to be separated from the whey, to receive 
salt. This is done by dipping it into a strainer, 
over a basket or sink, or drained off and salted in 
the tub. Either may be done without its adher- 
ing in lumps, by stirring it in a small portion of 
whey till cooled to ninety-four degrees. This is 
the most critical part of the process, and where 
cheese-makers are most likely to err, as the por- 
tion of salt retained in the cheese after pressing 
will be in proportion to the capacity of the curd 
to receive it when added. 

At a particular period and temper of the curd 



MAKING CHEESE. 5 

when draining oft" whey, it will absorb salt freely, 
and after being thoroughly mixed and packed up 
for a few minutes, while warm, it will be evenly 
shrunk and cleansed by salt, and the whey will 
press out freely. But if the curd is not well cook- 
ed, or cooled too fast in draining off the whey, it 
will acquire a degree of stubbornness, and prevent 
the absorption of salt to shrink and cleanse it, and 
no amount of pressure will be sufficient to drive 
out the fluids. If the curd is not worked evenly, 
the larger lumps will not be cooked enough, or the 
smaller too much (like large and small loaves of 
bread baked together in the same oven), hence the 
cheese is left impregnated with the elements of 
fermentation, which increase on being exposed to 
heat till the cheese is sufficiently "huffed," or 
swollen, for each constituent to occupy a separate 
space in the same rind, or shell. The fluids first 
attract together by affinity, forming small cavities, 
in which they remain unaffected by salt, become 
fetid, and generate an unpleasant odor. 

Curd should be salted warm (it is then the most 
absorbent), and somewhat cooled before putting it 
to press to suppress the combined action of heat 
and rennet. The quantity of salt required varies 
with the condition of the curd, size of the cheese, 
and amount of heat to which the cheese is exposed 
in curing. 

A well-worked cheese, from seventy-five to one 
hundred pounds, requires one pound of refined 
salt to forty pounds of curd to remain in the cheese 
after it is pressed, and exposed to a temperature 
of from seventy to eighty degrees. This may be 
varied from two to three pounds to the hundred, 
according to the texture of cheese desired — a small 
cheese requiring less, and a large cheese more. 



b A MANUAL OX 

A degree of moisture is necessary in cheese for 
a malleable texture, but this should not be from 
animal fluid contained in the curd. A high-salted 
cheese immediately exposed to high temperature, 
becomes sour, hard, dry, and crumbling ; the same 
exposed to a cool, damp atmosphere, retains suf- 
ficient moisture to be soft, yet solid. A cheese 
light-salted, in a high temperature, will cure quick, 
become porous, huffy, and stale. 

Gurd from hay-milk requires much less salt than 
that from grass or grain feed, as it is poorer, and 
will retain salt like lean meats. The richer the 
milk the more salt is required to control the ani- 
mal properties, and the less absorbent the curd ; 
the pores being filled with the finer, watery parti- 
cles. More salt is required in hot weather, also, 
to overrule the continued action of rennet and heat, 
neither of which will be effectual alone. 

When the curd is ready to press it is important 
to dispossess it of these decomposing agents. The 
gastric juice, or coagulator, is a fluid, and should 
work off with the animal fluids in the whey ; and 
the only way to get rid of it is to work the curd 
down fine and solid, and work the whey all out. 
Then cool the curd before pressing, and the cheese 
will be solid and keep its place. But if the whey 
is not all worked out, the decomposer is yet on 
hand, continues its action (aided by heat) till an 
equilbrium of chemical action is destroyed in the 
cheese, and the fluid properties leak out in fetid 
whey and oil, leaving it a rank and worthless ar- 
ticle. In short, the proper method of using salt 
must be arrived at by a close observation as to its 
chemical combination with the constituent proper- 
ties at different ages of the cheese, with different 
sizes, heat, dampness, &c. 



MAKINN CHEESE. 7 

When the curd is properly tempered for press- 
ing, a cotton or linen cloth is spread over the hoop 
and the curd is put in. The press should be faith- 
ful, and follow down (as the curd yields when 
young), to press out the whey and atmosphere be- 
fore a rind is formed to prevent their escape. 
There is no danger of too much pressure after the 
first hour. The cloth should be cleansed w^th lye 
often to keep the i-ind from cracking. The cloth 
is taken from tlie cheese when it is removed from 
the press. The cheese is set on a table for a few 
hours, till dry enough to absorb oil, and then paint- 
ed with anotta, mixed in strong lye (from com- 
mon ashes), kept in a jar for ready use. This 
toughens the rind so that it will not require much 
grease after the first coat to make a smooth rind, 
if rubbed often with the hand moistened in oil. 

A firm rind may be formed upon cheese, when 
young, by a careful exposure to drying air, fre- 
quent rubbing with the hand, and no more oil than 
will readily incorporate with the rind. If more 
oil is used than Avill be taken up, it will sooner or 
later flake off, leaving the cheese scabby, exposed 
to flies, mould, &c. Oil for greasing cheese is ob- 
tained from butter melted over a slow fire, till it 
is turned to oil. A preparation impervious to flies, 
is made by mixing cayenne pepper with the oil, or 
steeping red peppers in the oil, and then add from 
one-eighth to one-quarter beeswax ; this makes a 
smooth coating for cheese. 

It is most desirable that cheese should be in a 
proportion half as thick as they are wide. The 
size of the hoop may be calculated from the num- 
ber of gallons of milk you have to set ; each gal- 
lon should make one pound of cheese, if properly 
worked. 



S A MANUAL ON 

A cheese 20 inchea wide weighs 12 lbs. to each inch in depth, 

" 18 " " y 

•' 16 " " 7 

" 14 " '• 5| 

"12 " " 41 

" 10 " " 3| 

Cheese of the above proportions are banded with 
cotton cloth to keep them in shape. Heavy cheese 
must be banded with cloth that will not stretch, or 
its gravity will make them ill-shaped. 

Much of the bad flavor complained of in cheese 
may be prevented with proper attention to curing. 
In addition to the extreme changes of weather in 
our climate, which are more than sufficient to de- 
stroy the constitution of a well-manufactured 
cheese, the practice too generally prevails of plac- 
ing cheese in some loft or upper room least need- 
ed for other uses, and often next to a roof where 
heat concentrates, and the cheese becomes literal- 
ly baked. I deem such rooms best as are calcu- 
lated to preserve an equilibrium of low temperature. 
A tight, spacious, studded and plastered lower 
room, well ventilated with northern exposure, 
where heat may be increased, and air dried by 
fire, or cooled and dampened, if required, by air 
from an underground or adjoining room, where ice 
may be kept, is best adapted to the curing of cheese. 

An experiment with sixty dairies being gotten 
up expressly for shipment, a selection was made 
from the largest and most experienced dairymen 
in thirteen towns. A vigorous efibrt was made to 
reduce the whole practice to one general rule, 
consisting of an equilibrium of heat in milk, to 
set, not exceeding ninety degrees, with pure ren- 
net to curdle the milk, in forty minutes ; the curd 
was thoroughly worked by hand till it was as fine 
when scalded as wheat or corn ; the curd was 



MAKING CHEESE. 9 

scalded in whey with heat not exceeding one hun- 
dred degrees, and that heat held until the curd 
appeared shrunk, and would squeak when pressed 
between the front teeth ; the whey to be drained 
off, and the curd salted while warm, with two and 
a half pounds of refined salt to one hundred pounds 
of cheese, and cooled and pressed in cheese half as 
high as wide. 

These leading points being strictly adhered to 
were found adequate to produce the article re- 
quired, where curing rooms were constructed so 
as to preserve a uniform moderate temperature. 
The cheese not being affected by extreme changes 
of climate, fermented slowly and uniform, the 
rind was firm and smooth, with little oil, the text- 
ure was firm and solid, yet malleable like butter ; 
the flavor mild and pleasant. The weather being 
cool, a great uniformity was manifest in shape 
and texture. A dry room was found best for a 
wet cheese and a damp room best for a dry 
cheese ; but in no case was a higher temperature 
than seventy-five degrees found necessary. 

The results in experimenting are always in fa- 
vor of a medium rate of salt and heat. High salt- 
ing, and heat, making hard, smart cheese, low 
salting and heat, soft, mild, and tasteless cheese; 
low salting and high heat, porous, salt and sharp 
cheese. 

It is a common practice among dairymen to use 
artificial coloring for cheese. In preparing col- 
oring matter, use clean lye, from common ashes. 
PlaCe the anotta in it, over a fire, and boil until 
it is thoroughly incorporated. Then allow it to 
settle^ use only the clear portions, carefully avoid- 
ing the dregs. This infusion is to be added to 
the milk of which cheese is to be made (when 



10 A MANUAL OX 

ready for setting) as much as will make the milk 
a bright orange color, which will become the 
deeper as the cheese gets age. The addition of 
the anotta in no way affects the taste or smell of 
the cheese. Anotta is a preparation from the 
red pulp that covers the seeds of an American 
Tree — the aunatto tree. 

The (question of cooling milk, is deemed an im- 
portant one by some dairymen. They believe 
that milk should be stirred while cooling, to allow 
certain properties to pass off that should not go 
into the cheese, and then raise the heat by artifi- 
cial means for setting. Some dairymen believe 
the night's and morning's milk should be kept 
apart, because of antagonisms in their constituent 
parts. The difference of night from day feeding 
makes a difference in the milk, and the two milk- 
ings will not readily and fully unite because of 
antagonisms ; also with mixing sour and sweet, or 
cold and warm milk. 

RULES FOR MAKING SMALL CHEESE. ^ 

Strain the milk into a tub, and add rennet suf- 
ficient to produce coagulation in from forty to 
fifty minutes, keep the milk agitated from this 
time until coagulation begins, and then leave per- 
fectly still until the curd is sufficiently fixed, which 
requires a period of from forty minutes to one and 
a half hours. Then cut it into squares of an inch 
or so in size, as quickly and with as little agita- 
tion as possible ; when it begins to whey, break it 
up with the hands. If it starts the wiiite whey, 
it has not stood long enough. As soon as the 
basket will hold it, dip it in and break it up a few 
times. Gather up the strainer, and let it stand 



MAKING CHEESE. 11 

until morning. There is no danger of its souring. 
Scald and dry the tub. Warm the tub with hot 
water before straining in the morning's milk, and 
proceed as aforesaid. When you have broken up 
the morning's curd, let it stand and settle a few 
minutes ; then remove a portion of the whey by 
placing over it a cloth strainer and dipping it out. 
In this way you will not waste curd. When you 
have removed a sufficient quantity of the whey, 
turn in a little hot whey at a time, as you move 
the curd with the hands, to keep the curd from 
scalding. In this way you will readily work it 
down. When this curd is about half worked down, 
warm the last night's curd in warm whey, and put 
it in the tub with the other. When the whey is 
worked out, and the curd is broken up fine, it needs 
scalding or cooking. This is done by putting in 
a little hot whey, at a time when you have suffici- 
ent whey in. The curd should be about as hot as 
you can bear your hand in. During the process 
of scalding, the whey and curd should be kept in 
motion, to prevent the curd from settling and stick- 
ing together. When the curd is cooked, so that 
it will squeak when chewed with the front teeth, 
turn out the whey ; then salt the curd with about 
one ounce of salt to three pounds of curd ; let the 
curd cool for a few minutes, then put it to press. 

When the cheeses are pressed, they should be 
greased, rubbed, and turned daily for a few days, 
keeping them in as suitable a place as you have. 

If you bandage cheese, you should put them 
back into the press, and press the bandage on 
thoroughly ; this you will find to be a great pre- 
ventive to flies and mould. 



12 A 3IANUAL OX 



THE SAVING AND USING OF RENNET. 

Various opinions exist as to the best mode of 
saving rennet, and that is generally adopted which 
will curdle the most milk. The mode that will 
preserve the greatest amount of strength, and best 
flavor, so that it may be smelt and tasted with a 
good relish when put into the milk, I consider the 
best. Any composition not thus kept, I deem 
unfit for use, as the coagulator is an essential agent 
in cheesing the curd, and sure to impart its own 
flavor. The rennet, or stomach, should never be 
taken from the calf until the excrement shows the 
calf to be in perfect health. 

As the coagulator is a secretion of gastric juice 
in the muscular fibres of the stomach, and as dif- 
ferent opinions exist as to the propriety of letting 
the calf suck before killing, and throwing away 
the curd in the stomach, I will refer the cheese- 
maker to W. Beaumont, M. D., the best authority 
in existence on digestion : 

"I infer that the first efi'ect of aliment on the stomach, is 
one firritation of the gastric papillie, thus exciting the dis- 
charge of the gastric juice, and stimulating the muscular 
fibres of the stomach. By this means the aliment is uniformly 
mixed with the gastric juice, which is constantly being secre- 
ted in proportion to the quantity of food received into the 
stomach, unless that be too much for the wants of the econ- 
omy." 

I think this reference shows that the calf should 
either be killed when the stomach is empty, or the 
curd should be saved, if the calf is allowed to suck, 
soon enough before killing to have curd in the 
stomach. In either case, the rennet should neither 
be scraped nor rinsed. The best way to save ren- 
net, in my opinion, is this : Having cleaned off 



MAKING CHEESE. 13 

from the coav's bag all dirt and loose hairs, let the 
calf suck one or two (juarts, then kill it within 
fifteen or twenty minutes. After taking out the 
stomach, turn the curd into a pan, pick out the 
hairs, if there are any, salt the inside of the stom- 
ach well, salt the curd and return it to the rennet. 
Having salted the outside thoroughly, gather it on 
a wooden pin, and hang it up in a cool, dry place 
to drain and dry. A rennet should not be allow"- 
ed to gather dampness, or its strength will evapo- 
rate. Care should be taken not to let them sour 
or taint. 

To prepare rennet for use, the proportion should 
be thus : Into three gallons of water (blood warm) 
put two quarts of salt, and two good rennets, cut 
open ; churn or rub them often for a day or two, 
then press them to get the full strength. Strain 
and settle the liquid, separate it from sediment, if 
any, and it is ready for use. One lemon, one-half 
ounce of cloves, one-half ounce of cinnamon, and 
one ounce of common sage, are often added to the 
liquor to preserve its flavor and quicken its action. 
If kept cool in a stone jar, it will keep sweet any 
length of time desired, and a uniform strength can 
be secured while it lasts. Stir it before dipping 
off, to set milk. Take of it enough to curdle the 
milk in forty minutes. Experience must be your 
guide. 



14 



A MANUAL OX 



CHARLES A. CODDING'S 

PATENT IMl'ROVEi:) 




CHEESE PttESS Ik DRAINER. 

PATENTED JULY 16, 1861 : PATENTED .JANUARY 28, 1862. 

This Press is exceedingly convenient, compact, and com- 
plete. With all its appurtenances, it is only a little larger 
than the space occupied by the curd. 

References and Explanations. 

x\ is tlie Base ; B the Cylinder ; C the Follower; 1) the 
Cover ; E the Weight; a a the Handles, and b b the Stops. 

The Base and Follower are so supported as to keep true 
under any necessary amount of pressure. The Base being 
placed suitably for pressing or draining, the Cylinder is slid 



.MAKI.\(i CIIEE.SE. 15 

a little way over its upper end. until it rests upon the Han- 
dles and Stops. The curd, after being placed in the Cylin- 
der, is pressed by placing the Follower into the upper end 
of the Cylinder, and putting the Cover and weight tipon it. 

The Weight is only about once or twice that of the curd, 
and applied directly without any leverage, because the en- 
tire surface of the Press that conies in contact with the curd 
is perforated, and furnishes such an easy escape for the whey 
and gases that the curd is easily made to assume its proper 
size and solidity without any loss of its richness. 

The style of the work is such as to present throughout a 
smooth and true surface to the curd. As you are filling the 
Press, be sure to get the curd in even. This is done by 
occasionally leveling and pressing it down with the hands. 
By doing this the cheese will be evenly pressed, and have a 
smooth rind. 

It is necessary to move the Cylinder occasionally while 
pressing cheese, to keep the perforations open if used with- 
out a strainer. That part of the press that comes in contact 
with the curd should be greased to keep it from sticking, if 
used without a strainer. 

Flies should be kept away from the cheese while it is be- 
ing pressed. This can be done by spreading a cloth over 
the press, or wraping it around the hoop. 

The press should never be scalded with any whey on it ; 
if it is, the whey will adhere and cause the press to be rough. 

The great advantages of this press are : 1. It can be used 
with, or without, a strainer ; it occtipies but a little room, 
does the work as well as any, and better than the most of 
presses. 2. It can be used for straining lard, tallow, cur- 
rant or any other juices for making wines and jellies, and 
tomatoes for catsup, &c. 

TESTIMONIALS. 

We, the undersigned, hereby certify that we have used, 
and thoroughly tested, the Cheese Press patented by C. A. 
Codding, July 16, 1861, and Jan. 28, 1862, and from our per- 
sonal knowledge we do confidently recommend it to all in 
want of a good, reliable Press. From the simplicity of its 
construction, the ease with which it may be managed, and 
the facility of increasing or diminishing the pressure, we be- 
lieve it the best thing of the kind ever invented, and well 
worthy to take the place of all lever or atmospheric Presses. 

Charles Andkus, Battle Creek, Cal. Co., Mich. 

Sarah F<. Ani>rus, " " 

Clark Henika. " " " 



IG 



MANUAL ON MAKING ClfEESE. 



SlTSAN HeNIKA, 

John Stkwart, 
Anna A. Stewakt, 
Helen Vanwert, 
S. P. Oahy, 
Adelia Cady, 
Dr. George Haskell. 
Eunice P. Haskell, 
Eli Clinton. 
Catherine Clinton, 
John Van Vleck, 
Harriet Van Vleck. 
Wm. Baker, 
Ann Baker, 
George P. Meerill. 
Sabra Merrill, 

C. M. Sprague, 
Elizabeth Sprague, 

D. S. Callenuer, 
C. P. Callender. 
A. B. Tyler, 
Sarah Tyler, 
Henry A. Hall, 
Sarah A. Hall, 
J. W. Lane, 
Maggie Lane, 

E. C. Bracy, 
Eliza N. Bracy, 
Rev. M. Lawrence. 
Niniah Lawrence, 
Eben Pennock, 
Elvira Pennock, 
George Thomas, 
Emma C. Thomas. 



Batlle Cv^e4v. ,Cal. Co.. Mich. 



Bedford. 
Charleston. Kal. Co. 
Town of Ross. 



Hickory Corners, Barry X^o., 



Barry, 



For Sta^te, County, or Town rights, address all 
communications to 

C. A. CODDING, 

BATTLE CREEK, MICH. 









^^ 



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LIBRARY OF CX)NGRESS 



DDDDflTlEVbE 



